We have tickets to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Blue Man Group...both for afternoon performances. We will be in NY, staying around Bryant Park, and would like some suggestions about dining out, sightseeing and what to do/see...flying in from MI Aug 5-8. Trying to avoid wading thru the TONS of tour guides, websites etc...personalized info is always better...thanks in advance!

Hi sumreknot,

There are many posters on this forum who'll have heaps of suggestions, but giving some idea of your tastes, ages, interests and budget will elicit more helpful replies to your question. As a starting point, have a look at the NYC miniguide here on Fodor's: http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr..._york_city@111
and also do a search for New York trip reports on this forum to give you an initial idea of what's out there without too much wading.

New York is a fabulous city (I can't find enough superlatives to do it justice) - have a wonderful trip, and remember that the research and planning is half the fun (or so I find)!

cheers,
foxymoron

Personalized info is always better. But without knowing anything about you it's hard to give you that.

Interests?

Budget?

Type of cuisine?

And really - you do need to read the guide books - at least a couple. If you don;t want to bother with that - perhaps you should pay a travel agent to do the trip for you.

We are on our 60's...but consider ourselves young...walk everywhere at home...4 or 5 miles a day for exercise...we LOVED Avenue Q...were in NY during the Republican Convention (by accident...surely not by design)..and had a great time just people watching..this time we'd like to see a little bit more...and have a nice dining experience...a ride thru Central Park...just hang out around town...Are tickets to GMA impossible? Any TV shows? Thanks again...

Here's the info for going to GMA.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=144752

I went last month. A few things to know: you don't get "tickets", you're put on a list for a particular day. You'll need to arrive at the studio about 20-30 minutes prior to taping, earlier if there's someone special that will be on the show. They'll take in the people that are on their list until the studio is full. You'll stand the whole time (waiting before the show plus the two hours of the show). Half of the show is taped in a studio upstairs that you can only see by watching the monitors. So it just depends on how interested you are in seeing the show and/or possibly appearing on tv when they show the audience.

A couple of suggestions: See if "Bridge and Tunnel" is still playing on Broadway. One woman show - she does a dozen completely different characters - real New York, awesome! Walk (or jog) the reservoir in Central Park - great New York views. Walk the Great Lawn in Central Park on any sunny day - teeming with life. Walk the pedestrian walkway across the Brooklyn Bridge on a sunny day - maybe no better NYC experience. Walk the Village - east and west - in the early summer evening (8:00 PM). Visit Grand Central Station at 8:00 AM. From one of the perches, with a cup of coffee, watch the masses flow in to fill the office towers.

I'm NYC born and raised - and a Fodors travel talk fan. It's an amazing city - it teems with life - explore it - it's yours to discover.

Oh thanks so much...not a celeb chaser...nor a line-stander! Guess we'll be skipping that..oh drat! LOL!
Seriously..thanks...wonder if there is anything worthwhile to checkout...

You should have dinner in the Village area after Blue Man. Some nice places (and good value) in the E. Village are:
Lavagna
Le Tableau
I Coppi (has outdoor garden)

You can check menus and user comments on menupages.com.